Cornerstone Planning LLC Invests $5.99 Million in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 53,566 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,991,000. Walmart comprises about 1.3% of Cornerstone Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 193.0% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Walmart from $147.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Freedom Capital raised shares of Walmart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.85.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.83, for a total value of $165,964.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 633,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,946,336.72. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $359,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 577,853 shares in the company, valued at $71,607,543.76. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 117,246 shares of company stock worth $14,493,147 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $117.18 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.15. The firm has a market cap of $932.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $177.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.84 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.720-0.740 EPS. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.